Active crossovers
Csontos, I have been using a Driver Rack Pa.This unit is in the same league as the Behringer.I have had this active system for two years. I highly encourage you to do so as well. Herman, have you any expierence with other cross overs? ASi-tek mods the Behringer, I have spent some time considering that unit or maybe a Marchand. Asi-tek has a upgrade option to mod the Behriger with transformer coupled outputs. i guess this is similar to the modded RME. Csontos, I hope I am not redirecting your line of questioning. i am most interested in all discussions about active systems. |
. I used a Behringer before I switched to this set up. It was highly modified and did sound pretty good. The output opamps were bypassed and I used Dave Slagle (Intact Audio) transformers, the clock was replaced, and a linear power supply used. I'm using the same transformers in the RME. I was thinking about replacing the DAC chips which is supposed to be a big improvement when I decided to go with the RME. I could have lived with it but the RME is better and allowed me to use Pure Vinyl software without having to have a phono preamp. If not for that I would probably still have the Behringer. The RME is not a LOT better than the modified unit but is a LOT better than the stock unit. . . |
Herman, do you out souce your mods or do them yourself? Also, would you talk some about the transformers you purchased from Dave Slagle? I am in the discovery phase about the RME. I have read through the website description and found a local store which stocks the product. I have a Galibier TT and triplanar arm and several hundred pristine lp's. Lp's have not been as magic since the driver rack came along. |
. I am triamping and Pure Music has a built in crossover that works seamlessly with the RME. Crossover points and slopes are adjustable along with polarity and gain. Very flexible. You can add whatever plugins you want if you want EQ or whatever. I play around Fab Filter ProQ for EQ. I did it myself. The transformers are 1:1 that Dave wound specifically for this purpose. If you contact him he can give you a quote. http://www.intactaudio.com/index.html Probabaly around $200 each so you'll have as much or more in transformers as you do the RME. There are cheaper transformer options but Dave's are very, very good. The tricky part is you are soldering on surface mount components which is very easy to mess up, and of course you void your warranty. I bought a used RME on eBay. The RME has 8 channels of audio output with 4 stereo DAC chips. The chips have balanced outputs which are cap coupled to opamps. The mod bypasses the opamps by soldering the transformer primary directly to the outputs of the chip. Hook whatever connectors you need to the secondary running balanced or single ended as needed. The traces are teeny tiny so very easy to burn up a trace which I did. Fortunately I only need 6 of the 8 channels so I'm still good to go. I am an electronic tech but really no experience or expertise in dealing with SMT soldering. If you find a repair shop that is they should be able to do the work for you. The RME sounds very good stock so you could start there, or explore other pro audio interfaces; Apogee, Lynx, and many others. Bear in mind the RME is Firewire and some others are USB. . |
